Operating Board

In addition to the YEI Staff, the following individuals assist with the operations of YEI:

Robert Bettigole, Managing Partner, Elm Street Ventures

Rob Bettigole is the founder and Managing Partner of Elm Street Ventures. Bettigole has broad experience as an entrepreneur and as a venture capitalist. His venture capital experience was gained as a partner at Rothschild Inc. and Investor AB, where his investments included Maxim Integrated Products, Gensia Pharmaceuticals, and Microgenics Corporation. Subsequently, he helped found Surety Technologies, Inc., a spin out from Bellcore, and Alexion (NASDAQ: ALXN), with researchers from the Yale Medical School.

Before founding Elm Street, Bettigole was president of a family business, which he successfully developed and sold. He is a Licensed Professional Engineer and holds several U.S. and foreign patents.

Bettigole has a BS in Engineering and Applied Science from Yale University and an MPPM from the Yale School of Management, where he is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

Sean Glass, Chief Strategy Officer, Pikum.com

Sean Glass is a serial entrepreneur. Having helped found the company, Glass currently works full time as the Chief Strategy Officer and UK Managing Director of Pikum.com. Prior to joining Pikum, Glass co-founded Higher One, an online financial services company focused on serving the higher education market, as well as the Yale Entrepreneurial Society.

Glass continues to work with Yale and other entrepreneurs through angel investing and mentorship. He also maintains a blog at thoughtsintime.com.

Glass received a B.A. in Electrical Engineering from Yale University in 2001.

Andrew Greenawalt, President, Gnostic Ventures

Andy Greenawalt is a serial entrepreneur in the Software as a Service (SaaS) market, frequent speaker and technology advocate. Greenawalt currently serves as the President of Gnostic Ventures, providing venture consulting, due diligence services and an incubation platform for SaaS businesses. He is also the CEO of Continuity Engine as well as serving as the entrepreneur partner with the CTech accelerator in New Haven. Prior to Continuity Engine, Greenawalt founded & CTO of Perimeter eSecurity, an Inc. 500 information security company that services more then 2500 banks and credit unions.

While in college he was also the recipient of the Robinson Humanitarian award.

Miles Lasater, COO, Higher One

Prior to founding Higher One, Miles Lasater was a member of the invention team at Walker Digital, where he worked on intellectual property for companies such as Priceline and Retail DNA. Previously, he worked in Silicon Valley as a computer consultant. During college, he was Rookie of the Year at Flying Colors Painting where he managed a residential painting franchise.

Active in the New Haven community, Lasater is a member of the Port Authority of New Haven and Yale's Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility. He founded the Yale Entrepreneurial Society (YES) where he also serves on the board of directors. Recipient of the Elm-Ivy Award, Lasater was recognized by the Mayor of New Haven and the President of Yale for strengthening partnerships among the New Haven and Yale communities. He is a volunteer tax preparer and is the creator of Cluefest, an annual city-wide scavenger hunt.

Lasater received a B.A. in Computer Science from Yale University in 2001.

Gabe Ling, General Catalyst

Gabe Ling focuses on investments in new and existing technology businesses. Prior to joining General Catalyst, he worked at the Yale Investments Office, where he examined asset allocation, analyzed performance, and evaluated managers and investment opportunities. While at Yale, Ling also worked at UBS Warburg in Convertible Bonds Research.

Ling received a B.A. in Economics from Yale University, graduating magna cum laude and with distinction in the major.

Richard Madonna Jr., Director of Finance and Administration, Office of the Vice President and General Counsel

Richard is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with the Connecticut State Board of Accountancy. Previous to his post at the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel, Richard used to be the Director of Finance at the Office of Cooperative research. Even earlier positions include: Yale Divinity School (Director of Finance and Administration), Yale University Internal Auditing (Senior Internal Auditor), Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. (Senior Financial and Budget Analyst), and Scillia, Dowling & Natarelli (Senior Auditor and Tax Accountant).

Madonna holds a B.S. in Accounting, Magna Cum Laude, from Quinnipiac University.

William Wiesler, Director of New Ventures, Office of Cooperative Research

Bill Wiesler is the Director of New Ventures in the Office of Cooperative Research (OCR) at Yale University, where he has been since 2002. Dr. Wiesler focuses on new ventures in the medical and life sciences area, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostics. Most recently, he founded and currently serves on the board of Ren Pharmaceuticals, a biotherapeutic company with funding from Amgen Ventures, Sanderling Ventures, and Venrock. He is also a founder and board member of Carigent Therapeutics, a nanotechnology-based drug delivery company, and Great Basin Scientific, a molecular diagnostics company. Dr. Wiesler also serves on the board of BioRelix, Inc., an antibiotics company based upon discoveries at Yale. Previously he played a leading role in the formation of Applied Spine Technologies, a company that has raised $47 million in venture capital since its founding in 2004 to develop a dynamic spine stabilization device that is currently in clinical development. Dr. Wiesler's licensing activities include transactions for four clinical-stage pharmaceutical products.

Prior to joining Yale's OCR, Dr. Wiesler was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company where he advised pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on a range of strategic and business development issues. Prior to McKinsey, Dr. Wiesler was with Radius Ventures, a start-up and early-stage venture capital firm focused on the health and life sciences industry. Earlier, Dr. Wiesler had research positions at Cadus Pharmaceutical Corp., where he headed drug discovery, and at University of Colorado, where he was an American Cancer Society fellow.

Dr. Wiesler is a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University, and earned both an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Columbia University.